


To Be Both the Third Wheel and the Second Choice

by IcyPanther



Series: Voltron Road Trip: A Fix-It Fic Journey [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fix It Fic, Fix-It, Garrison trio, Gen, Hunk & Lance & Pidge | Katie Holt Friendship, Hunk & Lance (Voltron) Friendship, Hunk (Voltron) is a Good Friend, Hurt Lance (Voltron), Lance (Voltron) Angst, Lance (Voltron)-centric, Platonic Relationships, team punk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-04
Updated: 2020-08-04
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:41:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25709896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IcyPanther/pseuds/IcyPanther
Summary: Hunk knows he and Pidge messed up. They didn’t mean to but the fact of the matter is they’ve been making Lance feel like an unwanted third wheel. And not just that… They teased him about his crush on Allura, but as Hunk has now realized it isn't just a crush anymore. And they’ve really, really,reallyhurt him.
Relationships: (onesided), Allura/Lance (Voltron), Hunk & Lance & Pidge | Katie Holt, Hunk & Lance (Voltron), Lance & Pidge | Katie Holt
Series: Voltron Road Trip: A Fix-It Fic Journey [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1864606
Comments: 54
Kudos: 348





	To Be Both the Third Wheel and the Second Choice

**Author's Note:**

> **Timeline notes:** early season seven  
>  **Warning notes:** none  
>  **Pairing notes:** one-sided Allurance, tiny little nod to one-sided Plance (which is where I really thought canon was going to wind up xD)

The clanking and cursing was the only way Hunk found Pidge, otherwise hidden by the crates of gears and parts they’d managed to rescue before the castle had blown up and stored inside the Green Lion’s cargo hold that he’d carefully ventured into. Problem was, they had no idea what exactly they’d grabbed and Pidge had announced when they’d landed she was going to start inventory and asked Hunk to join her after he’d sorted some of the food stores with Coran.

Hunk had known they needed to talk about some things for a while now but seeing Lance’s tiny wince at the request before he’d hidden his face behind Kaltenecker as he led her down Red’s ramp had solidified it.

He and Pidge had broken something.

They needed to fix it.

“Pidge?” Hunk announced himself as she hadn’t yet taken any notice of him and Pidge popped up from her pile of parts like a gopher.

“Hunk! Okay, good, so I know at one point—”

“Pidge—” Hunk tried to gently cut her off.

“—I had a piece Ziovian steel—”

“Pidge—” Hunk tried again, a little louder.

She steamrolled right over him.

“—and it would be perfect for—”

“Pidge!”

It wasn’t quite a shout but it was still far louder a volume than Hunk typically used and Pidge’s mouth snapped shut, eyes widening the slightest bit and Hunk felt a twinge of guilt at the fact he’d yelled when she wasn’t aware of the issue.

But that had been part of this problem. 

Neither of them had.

“Sorry,” he sighed. “I just… I need to talk to you.”

“... is everything okay?” Pidge asked, brows drawing together.

“No,” Hunk answered honestly, “it’s not.”

Pidge’s face paled. “Shiro?”

“Wha—? Oh no. No no no,” Hunk waved a hand quickly, realizing maybe given the circumstances that hadn’t been the best approach. “Shiro’s okay, everyone’s okay.”

Pidge let out a breath, hand pressing against her chest plate. “God, Hunk, don’t fucking scare me like that. I thought…” she shook her head. 

“Sorry,” Hunk apologized again. “It’s not anything like that. But… something is wrong. We,” he swallowed, “we need to talk about Lance.”

“Lance?” Pidge repeated, confusion obvious. “What about Lance?” 

“W—”

Hunk broke off as there was a clattering sound, of some gear or tool that Pidge had scattered about the floor in her search, from the front of the cargo hold, that sent him careening into a memory of Lance knocking over a tray of tools in front of Allura and Lotor while trying to come off as casually nonchalant that he and Pidge had teased him afterwards for, complete with reenactment.

Hunk’s stomach dropped out.

No.

It couldn’t be. 

But even before he stepped out from behind the crates and saw a flash of brown hair and blue and white armor he knew.

God.

This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. He was supposed to be _fixing_ things. And now Lance thought they were talking about him behind his back.

He’d made it _worse._

“Lan—”

“Dinner’s ready,” Lance cut him off, his voice a strange mix of too flat, too quiet, too high and he wouldn’t meet Hunk’s eyes, arms wrapped around himself in a hug that couldn’t hide the fact he was trembling.

“Lance, wait,” Hunk reached forward and something broke in his chest as Lance took a step backwards. “It’s, that’s… it’s not what it sounded like,” his words were nearly tripping over themselves as Lance took another step backwards.

Lance gave a mute shake of his head.

Tears were starting to spark in the corners of his eyes. 

“It’s not,” Hunk took a step forward, heart breaking as Lance kept retreating. “Lance, please… _hermano, por favor.”_

Lance flinched. 

And Hunk felt something cold settle in his stomach.

When…

When _was_ the last time he’d called Lance his brother? When had they last talked, just the two of them about nothing, about everything?

He didn’t know. 

“What is going on?” Hunk felt Pidge come up next to him, gaze darting between them all. “Lance? Hunk?”

Her confusion only made the guilt churn harder. Pidge didn’t even _know_ there was a problem and that was a problem too. They called themselves Lance’s friends — his _best_ friends — and yet…

Yet it had gotten to this.

“We need to talk,” Hunk said, eyes only for Lance. “All of us. Lance, please,” he licked his lips. “I swear it’s not… it’s not like that. Please… let me — let _us_ — explain.”

And while Lance made no move to come closer he stopped backing away, eyes and head angled downwards.

But there was no relief to be found as he spoke, voice thick and a touch bitter in a way Hunk had never heard.

“What’s there to say?”

“I’m sorry, to start,” Hunk said firmly, and trying not to feel hurt as Lance didn’t even so much as look at him. “I’m, I’m sorry for a lot of things, Lance. Please… will… will you let me explain?”

Lance gave a short jerk of his head.

He still wouldn’t look at them.

Hunk took a breath. 

There was only one way to do this. 

“We messed up,” he said bluntly. “Me and Pidge,” and to her credit Pidge didn’t argue even though he could still feel her confusion. “We hurt you, Lance. We hurt you a lot.”

Lance didn’t deny it.

Pidge sucked in a harsh breath and a tiny, “what?” that didn’t belong to her either.

“We didn’t mean to, I swear we didn’t,” Hunk continued, “but… but we made you feel unwanted. Like, like a third wheel.”

And he could feel the light bulb turn on over Pidge’s head.

“Team Punk,” she whispered, sounding horrified. 

Lance still didn’t say anything.

His armor creaked as his arms tightened in his sad looking self-hug.

“God, Lance, no,” she choked out. “We never…”

“We didn’t mean to hurt you,” Hunk said quietly. “But we did. We were so caught up in our projects and experiments that we — that _I_ — didn’t even realize how much you were being excluded and I,” his voice cracked, “and I should have noticed. I messed up, Lance. I really, really messed up and I hurt you.”

“ _We_ messed up,” Pidge said quietly, stepping up even with Hunk’s side and he was grateful for both the solidarity and how quick Pidge was on the uptake. “And there’s no excuse. We’re, we’re a team, all three of us, but we made you feel like you weren’t a part of it. And,” Pidge swallowed thickly. “And, and that’s a, a super _shitty_ feeling and… and that we made you feel like that…I’m so sorry, Lance.”

Lance gave a tiny shrug and Hunk could feel it coming.

Deflection. A fear of being a burden, of coming off as annoying or clingy and trying to wave it off with a too bright smile, a too fake laugh, too sad eyes, and removing himself before anyone could reject him first.

Hunk had seen it before.

But…

Never with him.

“It’s o—”

“Don’t,” Hunk interrupted him, voice breaking. “Don’t say that, Lance. It’s _not.”_

“Then what do you want?” Lance asked.

He sounded so _tired._

What had they _done?_

“For you to be honest,” Pidge said quietly. “If you think we’ve been the biggest assholes in the universe — and we _have_ — tell us. If you don’t want to talk to us right now, don’t want anything to do with us, tell us. Or, or if it’s me,” she swallowed thickly, “I’ll, I’ll go. I—”

“No,” Lance shook his head. “Don’t do that.”

He hugged himself tighter, still not looking at them and Hunk held his breath. 

“I just… I, I haven’t…” he swallowed audibly. “I didn’t want to bother you. You were both busy and, and you looked like you were having fun and I know I’d just ruin it since I’m,” he swallowed again and Hunk ached to interrupt, to pull Lance into a hug, but he made himself stay quiet because Lance was actually talking, was sharing his feelings, and he _needed_ to get it all out before Hunk could even hope to try to make it better, “I’m the stupid one and I wouldn’t understand.”

Pidge made a sound of distress and Hunk put a hand on her arm, holding her back too.

“And, and it’s okay. I know I am. And you shouldn’t have to include me in everything.”

Even though they’d included him in nothing.

Nothing except…

“But,” and Hunk watched as a tear dripped down Lance’s cheek. “But then… both of you,” and his eyes flicked up and the sheer _hurt_ in them made Hunk’s heart skip a beat, “you… you t-teased me. All the t-time about…”

About Allura.

Hunk had seen Lance go through his fair share of crushes through their life. But for as big a game as Lance talked he was actually incredibly shy and scared of being rejected and he rarely tended to pursue them, choosing to admire from a distance. 

But with Allura…

Hunk felt shame anew that he hadn’t seen the change. 

Lance’s crush on Allura had started off as they all did — Lance starry eyed and sneaking glances and Hunk could still remember when Lance had walked right into a hole in the training course in shock when Allura had first called him by his name and his near squealing to Hunk later about how Allura had pronounced it and wasn’t that so regal and wasn’t she so regal and pretty and smart and beautiful and— until Hunk had shut him up with a pillow because it was two in the morning — and Hunk hadn’t thought anything of it. 

And then, for a little while, it had seemed to disappear and Hunk figured the phase had passed. Lance had displayed none of those quirks he was familiar with as he helped Allura learn to navigate the Blue Lion — and given that new connection, that new closeness as Allura joined the team as a Paladin would have been the _perfect_ time to pursue but instead Lance had backed off — as he invited her to join them for movie nights and team dinners and he’d stopped with the (terrible, they were terrible and no matter how many times Hunk told him so Lance insisted on using them) pick up lines and flirtations.

Hunk should have realized then. 

Lance wasn’t crushing on Allura anymore.

He was _in love_ with her. 

But he hadn’t. 

And when Lotor had come on the scene and Lance had reacted — not quite jealousy but there had been a longing and some of those early indicators had come back — it had been noticeable. 

Very noticeable.

And when Pidge had started to tease Lance about it, enjoyed watching Lance get flustered and claim he wasn’t crushing on Allura — and he _wasn’t,_ he was _in love with her_ — Hunk…

Hunk had joined in too.

He’d done it before, he knew. Multiple times about Allura, back when they’d all first come to space. It had always been in good fun and he knew Lance knew that. And this time around it had been something almost normal in how everything was changing, something light and frivolous and it had been Hunk’s attempt to normalize Lotor in his own way, to try to accept him even though he hadn’t fully liked him. It was just supposed to be fun, like crushes that didn’t mean anything.

But this time it had meant something.

And Hunk hadn’t realized until it was too late.

Based on Pidge’s tiny inhale she’d just realized it now too.

“You…” her voice shook. “You actually… you actually like her, don’t you? Allura?” as though it needed clarified. 

Lance’s shoulders hunched over more.

Hunk’s breath caught.

He was waiting, even now, for them to tease him again. 

God, what had they _done?_

Hunk swallowed.

Squared his shoulders.

And strode forward the five steps that felt like far, far more that separated him from Lance and threw his arms around him before Lance could even think of trying to leave.

Lance immediately went stiff and it only made Hunk hug him tighter.

“I’m sorry,” Hunk choked out. “God, Lance, I’m so sorry.”

Lance held tight for another few seconds.

Then he let out a sob.

And another.

And then he went limp, head bowed and pressing against Hunk’s chest and shoulders shaking.

Hunk pulled him closer.

“I’m so sorry,” he whispered again, feeling tears dripping down his own cheeks. “ _Lo siento mucho, hermano. Lo siento mucho.”_

He felt Pidge come up behind him, circle around, and her hands bumped against his stomach as she dug her fingers between them and hugged Lance from the other side.

Hunk didn’t know how long they stood there for — definitely far past the dinner Lance had called them for and he had an inkling Coran had not only been the one to send Lance to fetch them but was the reason why no one was coming after them now — but he resolved not to let go until Lance’s breathy sobs slowed and then stopped, his body losing every last bit of tension until only the arms wrapped about him were holding him up, and until Lance made the first move to pull away. 

All three happened at the same time and Hunk reluctantly lowered his arms and felt Pidge do the same, stepping back as Lance brought a hand up to rub at his eyes. 

“We’ve been horrible friends,” Pidge said into the silence. 

“You… you were not so good friends,” Lance agreed quietly and even now, after how much they’d hurt him Lance still wouldn’t accuse them of it the way he had every right to do so. “But… right now…”

His eyes finally lifted, meeting Hunk’s gaze. 

“Right now… it’s okay. So we’re… we’re okay?”

As though Lance had been the one at fault.

“Are _you_ okay?” Hunk asked pointedly. 

Lance gave a tiny nod and while that wasn’t the most exuberant reaction there was nothing false about it.

“Then we’re okay,” Hunk tried for a smile. “But Lance? This… this still never should have happened. And I can’t go back and change what I did but… but I promise I’ll do better.”

“Me too,” Pidge said quietly. “I’m really sorry, Lance. For everything.” She bit her lip and looked away, voice coming out even softer. “You… you really like Allura, don’t you?”

And that time Lance gave a small nod.

But then he shook his head. “It doesn't matter,” his words were barely a whisper. “She’ll never…” 

“Never know what she’s missing out on?” Pidge interjected and while her voice was hot there was something else there and Hunk slow-blinked.

How had he missed that too?

Lance’s wide eyes though were what he had to focus on, denial already on his lips.

“Nu uh,” Pidge poked Lance in the chest. “None of that. Allura would be, be an _idiot_ if she didn’t give you a chance.”

Hunk’s heart swelled and broke in that moment as he realized Pidge had made her choice. 

“Don’t call Allura that,” Lance said, even though it came out far more half-heartedly than normal. “Besides… I’m just…”

“You,” Hunk said softly. “And that’s all you should be, Lance. You’re perfect the way you are, _hermano.”_

Even if he and Pidge had teased Lance for all the things that Lotor was that he wasn’t and he felt the hot shame even stronger.

But this wasn’t the time for that. Lance was willing to move past it and Hunk wouldn’t drag him back down.

“And,” Hunk reached forward and took one of Lance’s hands in his, giving it a squeeze, “if Allura doesn’t love you for you, then…”

Then she didn’t deserve Lance and his big, beautiful heart.

“But she will,” Pidge said and there was not just a set, determined cast to her face but something knowing, something almost sad and happy at the same time. Bittersweet, Hunk placed. He reached out and took one of her hands in his own too. 

“Now isn’t a good time,” Lance said quietly, looking down at his feet. “Everything’s so… and, and I don’t want to… everything that just happened with Lotor…”

“Then we wait,” Hunk said and Lance’s head jerked up at the plural. “Yes,” Hunk nodded at him. “We. We’re in this together.”

“Operation set Lance up with the princess is a go,” Pidge said, completely straight-faced in complete opposite to Lance’s rapidly turning pink. “Just say the word and we’ll begin.”

“What?” Lance croaked. “Guys, no.”

“And if you don’t want us to do anything,” Hunk gave a pointed look at Pidge, “then we won’t. But… but we’re here for you, Lance. However we can be. And this time… we’re not going anywhere.”

Lance’s lip wobbled.

And Hunk found himself being tugged forward that time, Pidge yelping as she was yanked off her feet by their connected hands, and then Lance was wrapping his arms around both of them.

Hunk’s grumbling stomach ruined the moment a few seconds later.

Lance though let out a laugh — and it was bright and breathy and everything it should be — and shook his head. “I guess dinner was a while ago, huh?”

“Whatever Coran called dinner is not dinner,” Hunk retorted, heart feeling lighter then it had in days. “I’ll go make us something fitting of such a word. Come on,” he looped his arm over Lance’s shoulders, aware of Pidge fitting herself to Lance’s other side. “Let’s go eat.”

And together, the way they were meant to be, they made their way back to the others. 

**Author's Note:**

> A fic request that is going to be a part of a mini-series of fix-it fics kicking off season seven for events that (mostly) occurred in season six. I've addressed some of these items in other fics before but this series will be an in-depth, concentrated look focusing on fixing things that earlier seasons majorly effed up :) Readers on my poll chose this one pretty high for the next fic to post, so here we are; some of my favorite relationships (Garrison Trio, platonic Hance and Allurance ♥) to start us off. I'd love to hear what you thought :)
> 
> If you enjoyed the fic please do take a moment to leave a comment with what you liked about it. What takes you **minutes** to read can take an author **hours** , if not **days, weeks** or even **months** to create. Please show your authors appreciation for all their hard work, free of any cost to you. It only takes a minute; share a favorite scene, a line of dialogue, a reaction… the possibilities on things to comment on are endless. Thank you to those who do so, your support means a lot ♥
> 
> 💥 **(Like my works? Want to read even MORE? Visit my[Tumblr, icypantherwrites](https://icypantherwrites.tumblr.com)!)💥**  
> 


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